for you. everyone. the lebanese minister becomes the latest politician to quit as the calls grow for government change in the wake of tuesday's blast. the whole romany watching on his or alive one headquarters here in doha coming up in the next 30 minutes paving the way for peace talks in afghanistan the president backs the decision to release 400 taliban prisoners. europe's longest serving leader tries to hold on to power in the bellary selection that's brought an unexpected challenger. and donald trump sidestepped congress and sighs executive

orders for financial relief for the millions made jobless because of coronavirus. welcome to the program breaking news coming out of lebanon where the calls grow for complete political reform lebanon's information minister has become the 1st senior member of the government to resign since explosion in beirut on choose day when all of those some are made the surprise announcement in her office in the past half hour she apologized to the lebanese people saying there was little hope for change it comes after thousands came out in protests demanding reform in the wake of tuesday's port disaster 158 people have been reported killed when 2700 tons of ammonium nitrate exploded in a hot a joins us now from beirut let's just talk about the resignation of that government minister how signet. is it in the fore in the makeup of the cabinet.

well the cabinet will not be toppled she is the 1st senior minister to resign we are getting reports that a 2nd minister the environment minister may tender his resignation later today we're going to have to wait to see how the prime minister is going to react because before the blast a minister resigned from his cabinet the foreign minister he resigned because he believes the government's performance the government has not been able to deal with the dire economic conditions in the country and the government was failing to carry out much needed reforms in order for lebanon to reach a deal with the international monetary fund to kick start the economy when the foreign minister resigned it took the ruling elite just a few hours to replace him so we're going to have to wait to see if this minister will be immediately replaced because it will be a sign from those in power that they're going to hang on to this government last night when the prime minister has found dead address the nation people who are

angry in the streets were hoping that he would resign instead he said he's going to propose holding early elections and that he asked the people give me 2 months now some people will say that he's buying time as behind the scenes negotiations continue between the lebanese political elite and international powers international powers have now become really involved in the crisis in lebanon others will say that this is a sign that those in power realize that they need to get cave in that they need to give some sort of concession because it's not only pressure from the streets they're facing pressure from the international community and those in power realize that their cash strapped they aren't able to cope with this disaster and to give the people what they what they need and indeed. you know we saw 10 scenes in the city center just tell us what it's like where you are how people feel about things

that are going all the what they really need the morning after. yes martyrs square this this was a battleground for a few hours last night this is an epicenter of the protest movement today you could see volunteers in the street giving food and water to the poor to the needy i asked them you know who are you helping this anyone who is hungry and many people are hungry in 11 on 50 percent of the population now live before the below the poverty line aid agencies say that 5 $100000.00 children just in the beirut area alone are going hungry so it's the people who are helping each other there's solidarity in the streets the state is noticeably absent like i mentioned the government this cash strapped so people took this took to the streets last night this area turned into a battleground and now we're hearing from some people here that they may plan another protest later today so let's let's head just have a look at the scenes that we witnessed yesterday. they stood their

ground in the face of power. relentless tear gas by security forces at times live ammunition. but protesters didn't leave too angry at a political class they blame for tuesday's blast that killed dozens and destroyed and damaged many neighborhoods in the lebanese capital the authorities were aware that thousands of tons of highly explosive material was stored at the beirut port for years we have survived the explosion but part of all of us has to be honest but what can we do i am one of the fortunate ones who can leave and establish myself outside but all these people can know what can we do what they did was returned to the streets they have been demanding a new leadership for months many were injured in running battles that lasted for hours but this time they say they will be silenced they want justice and revenge

for the victims of the explosion and believe a government led inquiry into the. disaster won't hold senior officials accountable . we are not leaving it's either them or us in this country and you know what the people always do things and we will fight we want revenge and all revenge is by putting all the political plus either either on the huygens to see over there or in the dust bins but we want them out. protesters also storm 3 ministries state institutions people say are run by corrupt politicians who they blame for draining the state's treasury they say they want the state and a competent government currently levanon since the 2 sions are controlled by political parties and there is a parallel state run by the iranian backed hezbollah the prime minister has sandy who took office earlier this year is now offering a way out of the crisis conclusion as making ability when you know we we cannot face these problems unless we have a really elections to elect

a new politicians and a new parliament we need a new political elite and a new parliament we need to work together to overcome the stiff aperient we know and i know the people have questions about the catastrophe and how the government plans to handle it the catastrophe is way bigger than anyone could imagine the impact my stay forever. over early elections have been one of the oppositions demands but there are concerns the sectarian based political system and electoral law won't give independent candidates a chance. to every election is good as a good step but i'm afraid that the political parties although they still have the power over the people and a soul about the system like i'm afraid that they will have just we will have the same people again i thought the 1st time central beirut turns into a battleground between the people and the establishment the struggle for change is not new the anger has been building for years. many feel those in power caved in by

proposing early elections the governing alliance is not just facing pressure from the street the state is nearly bankrupt and the international community won't help unless politicians fight state corruption for now many people here feel they won a round in what is likely to be a long battle. beirut. on to the other top story that we're following these past few hours and there's been new hope for afghan peace talks were present garley says that he'll approve the release of 400 taliban prisoners which paves the way for negotiations to begin his announcement comes after the country's highest consultative assembly called the loya jirga made the recommendation on saturday gone he says that he'll sign the order in the next few hours their release was a precondition for the armed group to take part in talks about the future of the country which soccer team is a founding member of going to start affairs unit afghan think tank he says the prisoner release was the only roadblock remaining in the peace process and

president garny was under significant pressure to approve it. from one side he was fees to a legal hurdles for that he's a full 100 prisoners it was serious issues around those 400 and he's from a legal perspective but from the other site holy sites we're putting pressure on the government that i'm less and until it actually happens that in taiwan talks were not going to start so that's why everybody was due money to ease of this business so he was caught between iraq and hartley's and that's why one can say that he was under pressure but now that pressure has been released and thanks to the ledger to the taliban at least for the dying being cannot compromise a military position and cannot go into ceasefire and more just because they want to maintain your hold on the conflict context and until they're sure off any misunderstanding of progress don't expect them to engage in

a ceasefire so well the time being one can see at that instead of considering who are the ball the basic thing is that we are all safe for the entrance wound up which should be a watershed event in the current peace process that's going to open the way for negotiation among outlines in order to settle on a future outlook off the water to go sit down. on. giving up on the armed while ns and engaging in political processes. the presidential election is underway with alexander lukashenko facing a tough test to win reelection for a 6th term his main challenger to some of sky went into hiding after her top aides were detained several activists were also detained during a recent crackdown by the government but the president's dismissive response to the krona virus pandemic and the worsening economy is causing widespread discontent

start vasant has more from the capital minsk. election observation belorussian style. i am. independent observers have not only been detained but also been barred from entering polling stations nonetheless they have found irregularities in the voting process that started on tuesday and will have its peak on sunday at the 1st day of the elections. 39 people fired even protocol. mission so there where 89 so they added 50 people is the mood of this new president alexander lukashenko has been accused of stealing previous elections but this time he's facing an opposition on a scale has not witnessed before led by this woman 37 year olds but learn at the hand of sky she reluctantly decided to run for president after her husband

a popular blogger was jailed suppose the elections were going to be free and fair how many percent of the vote would you get i suppose $65.00 said. he would be a big winner then. i would be awarded. but the woman who attracted large crowds does not expect this to be the official election result she has promised that if she becomes president the 1st thing she will do is call for free elections even if this. doesn't happen now because elections will be. i don't think that he will. be. i don't know how can a person. country where people. softly speaking don't like him just. most of them. and. but will he go

quietly. the fact of this guy has accused the opposition of trying to cause a bloodbath and russia of provoking violence but analysts say these accusations are made to hide the country's real problems. in the last 10 years they're going to meet has gone down and society is not happy and basically all levels of society are united against look at despite their ideological position their values and their political priorities all of them think are the main obstacle for development. but as long as the president is still backed by the military and high ranking officials he believes look as shanker will remain in power the moment of truth for look i shan't go will not be on election day but on the days after that if as announced large crowds protest what they believe will be another fraudulent election here at this square the threat of violence can then become reality

a scenario most balor russians want to avoid step fasten al-jazeera menthe. joke as president of the once a scientific research center think tank he says where the president wins or loses the country has changed forever. 7080 percent of the receivers want change we have people of culture business people people from different areas supporting role change by the authorities that really are quite in bad and we have this said number of about 22 percent of early votes on different you will get calls of why in favor of the tension is very very tired and i'm sure that people will come out and try to do their best to support their growth i don't know whether it will be tonight told the day after tomorrow 'd but well it was will never be the same again as before this parliament or the actual action and bring the previous elections the perfect 0

all observer it was no democratic and did not prevent the west from dealing with the question and direct way so i would bet it would be like moral psychological support but it's not likely to influence deliberations between the rebel the russian regime and the world. bowl still have his own al-jazeera a former president in sri lanka becomes prime minister again point many fear this could lead to proceedings. 100 south africa where the pressure is on to sort what's being described as the countries of a pandemic those stories too after the break. but . i know that plenty of cloud across much of indonesia also some rain very much in the forecast you can see where the massive cloud is across areas to the west over

the philippines and we're watching a couple of disturbances one has become a tropical depression is not she to the north of the philippines but what it's doing is dragging all of this rain out towards the north that is i will say most of the heaviest downpours we can see also fairly widespread across much of cambodia and then it's too cheesy that rain continue crossed. philippines but also becoming rather more widespread across borneo again and also some heavy downpours in and around western java such a cause so certainly having a very wet day on it chews day i mean all across into australia and new zealand has some rain all the way to new zealand but still we have to see the back of this system which is still impacting new south wales and this is severe across the west are all the slaves to move there is the area of low pressure and this line of rain is a front trailing all the way back and really extending through much of western australia so a down day in perth of the hive 19 degrees and still the child's a few showers in sydney but the winds of course one of the main features with this system very strong along that central coast so again not helping with the erosion that continues to take place that front working its way across south australia

through tuesday taking the showers tools i'd lay but mostly fine and dry across into malbon. rewind returns with a new series. right on the back to town to see you don't. think. you need. to. rewind continues with the last try secret tell me at the cia 675 to live in the same way that the and sisters did living in the forest in the jungle and seems like they're abandoned by everybody on al-jazeera.

but back to watching officer of the cell robin a reminder of our top stories lebanon's information minister has become the 1st senior member of government to resign since the explosion in beirut on tuesday 158 people were killed when 2700 tons of ammonium nitrate exploded. afghanistan's president is backing the release of $400.00 taliban prisoners of guard he says he respects the decision of the loya jirgah consultative body to approve freeing so-called hardcore taliban fighters but their release is a taliban precondition for talks about the war battered country's future. and polls opened in the recent presidential election as its longtime leader seeks a 6th term the main opposition candidate has gone into hiding hours before the vote after her top aides were detained by police. in sri lanka and the rajapaksa has

been sworn in as the prime minister for the 4th time his ruling party won wednesday's parliamentary election by a landslide the 2 thirds majority means power means that power means that he can make the promise changes to the constitution critics fear that had lead to an autocracy the prime minister was appointed by his brother and president got the buyer rajapaksa reported an elf and there saw the inauguration ceremony in the capital colombo. and mahinda rajapaksa is prime minister of lanka once again his 4th time around in the job obviously he swept the general elections concluded on the 5th of august with one of the highest number of preferential votes for a candidate ever over 5000000 votes now this paves the way for the s.l.p. be led by the rajapaksa to carry on with the work program set out by president gore tabi rajapaksa in his election bid in 2019 it's called the stars for prosperity and aims to take sri lanka forward dealing with some of the pressing issues that this

country faces now obviously the consolidation of the rajapaksa hold on power has been confirmed with the swearing in of my in the rajapaksa as we saw here at the calorie temple a little while ago but it also shows the kind of dynamic the family is now in charge and even when we saw the swearing in of the prime minister you had the president go tubby rajapaksa his younger brother who went around the table and actually worshiped his brother once he saw him in as prime minister these are some of the kind of ways the family operates obviously a number of siblings all of them involved in sri lankan politics now there have been some concerns about a potential reversal of some of the democratic institutions the achievements of the last constitution because the right boxes have said that with control of parliament

and a 2 thirds majority one of their targets is going to be the constitution that they're going to bring changes that allows them to get on with the business of government as they map it out so it's going to be interesting times for sri lanka as the new government takes power. no it's a visit that has angered china the u.s. health secretary arrived in taiwan just a short while ago and exiles 3 day trip is being hailed as an opportunity to strengthen cooperation in combat in covert 19 but beijing has war the president trumped the visit threatens peace and stability in the region is the highest level visit to the island by an american diplomat in nearly 40 years u.s. president donald trump has also signed a 4 executive orders which he says will provide economic relief to millions of americans the move bypasses congress that includes eviction protections student loan relief and an extension of unemployment benefits democrats say provides little help to families and will reduce desperately needed support for the unemployed like

how the reports now from washington d.c. . fresh from around on his course the president held a news conference at his new jersey golf club a number of the club's members forming an admiring crowd heaped blame on the democrats for the lack of agreement in congress ignoring the fact that the house had passed a new stimulus bill back in may that the republican controlled senate declined to vote on. the 1st stimulus bill was passed in march in a bipartisan vote but a number of its provisions expired at the end of july. among them the $600.00 unemployment benefit which the president has reduced to poor $100.00 in his executive order why did you decide on $400.00 when previously families were receiving $600.00 now that will be a hardship for many what do you say to them will assert a hardship this is the money that they need this is the money they want and this gives them a great incentive to go back to work and controversially he's demanded that the

states many of which have been economically devastated by the pandemic pay a quarter of the new benefit one of the points of disagreement in congress was the democrats' proposal to offer financial assistance to the country states that have largely been forced to come to the pandemic with limited federal assistance legal experts argue the president does not have the constitutional power to cut payroll taxes as he has done in addition these taxes go to social security and medicare and it's not clear now how these programs will be funded. the house speaker nancy pelosi and senate democratic leader chuck schumer issued a scathing joint statement president trump still does not comprehend the seriousness or the urgency of the health and economic crises facing working families they say they're disappointed that instead of putting in the work to solve americans' problems the president instead chose to stay on his luxury golf course

to announce unworkable weak and narrow policy announcements to slash the unemployment benefits that millions desperately need the president's executive orders will face a series of legal challenges and it's uncertain when or if they will come into effect mike hanna al-jazeera washington. the number of brazilians who died after contracting covert 19 has surpassed 100000 only the united states has reached that total 2000 red balloons one for every 100 deaths were released on copacabana beach in rio de janeiro black crosses also mourn the dead a 1000 deaths a day from the pandemic had been reported for the past 3 months other latin american countries are also struggling it's the region with the highest number of infections worldwide chile has more than $10000.00 deaths and that's one of the highest fatality rates per population now. has more.

just this parts of chile prepare to reopen economic activities on monday. the country reached a sad new record of 1000 related deaths and. today we arrived. from our hearts we feel for the families for those who miss and love those who have been lost but even if the gone they will be remembered we regret that the pandemic is cause us to lose so many loved ones so many people who wanted to continue on. the country of 18000000 has the 2nd highest that rape her 1000000 people in latin america after neighboring peru and hired in brazil the worst affected country overall in the region is also say they have registered a slight increase in new infections after days of the creases. and like other regions the capital most of its metropolitan area will keep the current lockdown

measures for at least another week but some residents think it's time to relax restrictions in the capital. if the infection rate drops then they should lift the quarantine how long will the quarantine last in santiago they should have lifted it if they still haven't explained why they're extending it. to the spread of corona virus has been relentless across latin america even rare success stories like the island of cuba that had managed to reduce cases to a handful per day have had to backtrack after a spike in the last couple of weeks the government on saturday ordered restaurants bars and beaches to close once again also suspending public transportation with braiding citizens for letting their guard down. we have to return to measures in place during the community spread with all limitations and demands that are clickable to this phase as well as the sacrifices that this entails for

everyone for institute. as for the public sector for the private sector for our citizens. from many countries in the region fighting depend there make it's a case of one step forward in 2 steps back at least in the room. of fires killed at least 11 kronor virus patients in southern india the blaze happened in a palace hotel being used as a covert 19 facility rescuers were able to help 30 others to safety and this is the 2nd such incident in a month. new zealand marking $100.00 days since it stemmed the spread of the krona virus their new cases have been a few returning travellers who've been quarantined at the border prime minister just into has been praised for leading the efforts but walls that people must stay vigilant to avoid a 2nd wave of violence against women is a major problem in south africa on average one woman is murdered every 3 hours the

government's planning legislation to reduce crime levels but activists say change is a long way off for me to report in johannesburg. this small group outside the order put to magistrates court in johannesburg is trying to bring attention to what has been called a pandemic they're protesting against gender based violence in a country where government statistics say a woman is killed every 3 hours. in court the family of julia the car waits for the appearance on camera of 2 men accused of her rape and murder as well as the rape of her 21 year old granddaughter. and her son poor shows us where just weeks ago he says the accused men broke into a home hope ortrud looks over the room where she was raped stabbed and later died. but my mother would prefer in front of brutally.

it just. me. in memphis mean how does one approach a female and going to an increment. you know on all. in the last year 2695 women were murdered in south africa that's slightly down from the year before but still a big number after the rape and murder of juilliard a carter 3 other homes were attacked in just 48 hours in this block alone in one of the other breaking an elderly woman was assaulted and seriously injured people here say that only women and children live in the homes that were targeted with close 210-0000 followers on twitter number is a well known gender activist with strong views she's often come under attack even

threatened with rape so it shows a turd reminder. of what happens it's a reminder that gender based violence. is with us everywhere it can flip just like that i am sad the south african government is working on new laws to help protect women including harsher sentences for perpetrators and strict to bail conditions but there are some who say more needs to be done to understand the rate of violence it's too easy to say it's a party to the cleanliness of obviously their peril but what is there for all how does it interact with prisoners how does the shift when it changes in the economy what is the impact of that history with the now in the present as this family mourns and struggles with their loss their say there's no except a bill explanation for the rape and murder of their mother for me to mullah

al-jazeera johannesburg. you're watching officer of me still run the reminder of our top stories lebanon's information minister has become the 1st senior member of the government to resign since the explosion in beirut on chews day 158 people were killed when 2700 tons of ammonium nitrate exploded afghanistan's president is backing the release of 400 taliban prisoners after a guard says he respects the decision of the loya jirga consultative body to approve freeing so-called hardcore taliban fighters their release is a taliban precondition for peace talks with the governments polls open in belarus this presidential election as its longtime leader seeks a 6th term the main opposition candidate has gone into hiding hours before the vote after top aides were detained by police mahinda rajapaksa has been sworn in sri

lanka's prime minister for the 4th time his ruling party won the parliamentary election in a landslide he'd been serving as interim prime minister. the us health secretary has arrived in taiwan a move that has angered china alex as ours a 3 day trip is being hailed as an opportunity to strengthen corporation in combating covert 19 beijing has warned the president donald trump that the visit threatens peace and stability in the region. president trump has also been passed congress he signed for executive orders which he says will provide economic relief to millions of americans they include extending unemployment benefits as well as a fiction protections and student loan relief those were the headlines laura will be here with a news hour in half an hour next on al-jazeera it's really want to stay with us.

every. hello i'm come on santa maria and welcome again to rewind here on rewind we delve deep into the al-jazeera documentary archive to bring you some of the best and most influential programs of the past decade as well as news of what's happened since well sometimes the story behind the making of the program off a century ago as war raged in vietnam and i.